Breakthrough eludes Darfur peace negotiators

People in Darfur are hoping to return to normal life Keystone

Talks on a solution to the Darfur crisis in western Sudan are dragging on as both sides remain far apart on key issues, a Swiss mediator tells swissinfo.

Julian Hottinger, who is taking part in African Union-sponsored talks in Abuja, Nigeria, says a hoped-for agreement by the end of this month is now unlikely.

On Thursday the United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, signalled he would be willing to send peacekeepers to the region to relieve the African Union force, which has been struggling to quell the violence between rival militias.

Annan made the comment following talks this week with President Bush, who has pressed for the UN to take over control of peacekeeping.

Hottinger, who is attached to the Swiss pool of experts at the foreign ministry, helped hammer out last year’s peace deal ending 21 years of civil war between the north and south of Sudan.

swissinfo: The conflict has been raging for more than three years. What are the prospects for a settlement?

Julian Hottinger: You can’t solve an ongoing conflict automatically. You have to have a vision of what can be done and how it can be done and processes take time. When we were negotiating between the north and the south, we were given six months and it took us over three years to get an agreement. It’s quite possible Darfur will take a while too.

There is a timeframe [for an agreement], but based on the progress being made it could be modified. The last timeframe was for the end of this month.

swissinfo: Can this timeframe be met?

J.H.: I personally don’t think it can, not if we want a total agreement. You could have a partial agreement on certain issues, that’s for sure.

swissinfo: Has there been any progress since the national unity government was installed in Khartoum last September?

J.H.: Progress is being made. The problem is there are key issues that still have to be resolved: the status of Darfur within the federation, how the power-sharing mechanisms will be established, and thirdly what Darfur will become. Then there are issues concerning security.

swissinfo: President Bush and Kofi Annan have reportedly agreed to work together on the Darfur issue. What can we expect to come of that?

J.H.: One of the aspects we seem to be looking at is a possible transformation of the African Union contingent into a United Nations mandate. That would then be consolidated, meaning more people would be brought in and at the same time it would be set up differently so as to be able to respond to the conflict.

The Security Council last week gave the UN the possibility of planning and envisaging a UN mission for Darfur. But we’re just at the planning stage and the UN needs about nine months to deploy.

swissinfo: What assistance can Switzerland offer apart from financial aid and possible participation in this UN mission?

J.H.: Switzerland is contributing quite a lot in the way of humanitarian aid and at the same time is contributing to the peace process. It’s very hard to envisage another role until a certain security and stability is obtained on the ground.

swissinfo: How do these negotiations differ from the ones you conducted over the north-south conflict?

J.H.: It’s much harder in the sense that in the north-south situation there was a clear vision of what each side could accept. At the same time it was quite clear that financially speaking the south is quite autonomous, that there’s enough wealth to be able to build up the area.

The Darfur situation is quite different. It’s an area that’s been through drought for the past 20-25 years. It’s the longest desert belt in Africa, an area that’s becoming drier and drier and at the same time it doesn’t have many natural resources.

swissinfo-interview: Morven McLean

In brief

Julian Hottinger took part in peace talks in Kenya which, in 2005, finally ended 21 years of civil war between the predominantly Christian south and the Islamic government in Khartoum.

Hottinger, an expert on mediation and facilitation, has been taking part in African-Union sponsored talks on Darfur in Abuja, Nigeria. He is mainly concerned with the power-sharing aspect of an agreement.

Switzerland is to contribute more than SFr10 million ($7.6 million) a year to the United Nations Mission in Sudan from 2006.

In 2005 the government allocated $75 million (SFr89.5 million) in humanitarian aid for a three-year period.

Key facts

The Darfur conflict erupted in 2003 when rebels began attacking government targets, claiming the region was being neglected.
The two main rebel groups are the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) and the Justice and Equality Movement (Jem).
Around two million people – half Darfur’s population – have been displaced.